Phase Two: Underway/Seeking Funding

Objectives: Production, Distribution and Implementation. Write, record, and acquire materials for curriculum development. Produce a live show and tour Kenya with teams of performer/educators. Make program available to medical and educational NGOs. Setup international workspace in Nairobi, Kenya. Teacher training.

Timetable: January 2013 – July 2014

Current Status:(June 2013)
• Re-organization and restructuring of Project HAND UP
• Grant Applications – Live Fundraising Events
• Rolling out new fundraisers, web sites and public awareness campaigns.

PHASE Three:Initial Planning

Objective: Setup and implement a short term volunteer program for American university students to tour East Africa with Project: HAND UP! curriculum.

Status: n/a

PARTNERS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT:

• We are working closely with specialists in children’s education to make this project possible. The program developers we are working with have been long recognized as a leader in combining education with entertainment. They have been producing age-appropriate, instructional puppet programs since 1974. Their creative staff wrote and produced all of the music, lyrics and instructional programming (including dialog and songs) for McGruff’s Crime Prevention and Drug Protection Program; a graded puppet program created in cooperation with and licensed by the National Crime Prevention Council and featuring a puppet version of McGruff, the Crime Dog. Introduced in 1985 and implemented in thousands of elementary schools nationwide, this program is still in use in classrooms across the country.

• We have a close working relationship (established in PHASE I) with some of Kenya’s most gifted stand-up comedians and comedy writers. They serve as editors and consultants to our creative staff in the USA.

• We have sought counsel with the a Kenyan theatrical company (S.A.F.E.) and will continue to work with their story writers who are already experienced in teaching social issues using theatre, in East Africa. They have been featured in the Academy Award winning movie “The Constant Gardener” and continue to be our inspiration.

• We have volunteer consultants from the magic community as well. Some of North America’s most scholarly magicians have devoted their time to assisting with some of the visual aids we use in order to illustrate key ideas about disease transmission. Historians, authors, and nationally recognized leaders in the world of magic have committed to lending a hand.

…and so a puppet show is very effective. It captures a lot of attention and also retention. What they have seen is really in their minds. So visual shows are very effective; they communicate quite a lot of information. I would have gone there and put up a flip chart and they would have gone sleeping or dozing… So it’s very effective in communicating; and there is no barrier.”

Our Philosophy

“Second Giving” - Our perspective on charitable donations.
People are hurting, hungry, and homeless everywhere. In light of this fact we believe that national and international financial giving should be considered second to local efforts; that charity should begin at home.